Never Goodye
Barely conscious. Sound of leaves. Dim light filtered through sleepy eyelids. Cool breeze on her back, but warmth to her front. Arms holding her so tightly as if they never intended on letting go. Light breath trickling on her forehead. What? Where? Morning. It was morning. Conscious.
Temari opened her eyes. When had they fallen asleep? They were still in the clearing Shikamaru led her to late last night. It was deep in the Nara woods, away from the bustling streets of Konoha. What was usually used for cloud-watching was substituted for stargazing just the night before. Most couples had dinner and a movie, they had dinner and lazing. She was beginning to warm up to his lazing ways. It was actually quite relaxing. They also had an unspoken contract between the two to put aside work and talk about anything and everything else while lazing. However, the time had come to face reality.
Without moving, she took a moment to take in her surroundings. To her dismay all she could really see was the sky and the vested chest of her captor. She could tell it was morning, but how early? She decided to assess the situation more closely. Upon further inspection she found that over the time of the night they had turned into a tangled mess of arms and legs. They were laying on their sides face to face. Shikamaru had his forehead resting on top of her head, the crest of his nose where her hair met her forehead. He was still very asleep. Her head rested on one of his arms. The same arm extended to her opposite shoulder, and he had his other arm around her waist. She couldn't move without potentially disturbing him.
What time was it? She decided, despite her partners closeness, to stir and see if she could see the position of the sun. Her captor struck again. He tightened his grip pulling her closer to him and locking her in place. She couldn't help but laugh at the predicament, "You are ridiculous."
Shikamaru groaned at the comment. He hadn't been awake yet, and she was already making fun. "I don't know what you're talking about."
She gave a little laugh at that, "You're gonna have to let me go someday."
"Nope," he said it quietly.
"What did you say?"
"I didn't say anything."
"You said something."
"I take no responsibility for my actions before the sun comes up."
"The sun is coming up."
"Coming up but not up?"
"Don't be a smartass."
"I don't know what you thought you signed on for."
"There were papers?"
"You didn't get them?"
She laughed a little, "I don't recall getting any."
"I'll have to talk to my secretary about that."
"You don't have a secretary."
"I could."
"You don't."
"I should."
"You probably won't."
"You don't know," he said it quickly but clearly not fully serious.
She sighed a little, "I was trying to check the time."
"Why didn't you check it?"
"When I did you pulled me back down to where I couldn't see."
"Oh," he made no attempt to allow her from his grip.
"Are you going to let me check?"
"I'm not stopping you from anything."
"You still haven't let go."
"A watch could have solved this problem."
"Well, without one the sun is the only real gauge of time we have."
He was quiet for a moment. He moved his head so that he could look at her face-to-face, "One condition."
Without him saying, she already knew the condition. They stared at each other for a moment. He made the first move grazing his lips just close enough to hers, and she completed the action. There were few things she enjoyed more than these moments with him. And it was because of these moments, she dreaded leaving. Unfortunately, this was one of those days. Finally, they broke apart. They were silent for a moment.
She broke the silence, "I have to go."
"I know." She knew he was trying to be composed, but he couldn't hide from her the disappointment in the statement.
He lightened his hold of her just enough so she could see the sun. She moved so that she could see past him. The sun had barely peaked over the horizon. She decided to spare just a little more time and settled back into place, "I'll be back."
"When?"
She knew he knew she couldn't truly answer that, "soonish.'
"Soon or ish?"
"Ish."
"How soon do you have to leave?"
She slightly hesitated, "Soonish."
"Soon or ish?"
"... Soon."
He sighed to that. He hated watching her leave. It had become more troublesome than having her around nagging at him. However, the time had come. He untangled himself from her and got onto his feet. Then, he offered his hand to help her up. She looked at his hands reluctantly, but gave in and accepted them. He pulled her to feet, and they came face to face once again. His hands still in hers, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead to hers.
"I know," she said. Nothing had to be said for her to understand. They stayed like that for a while, and then they were on their way. They would get to the gates, and then they would part ways as always. She would go there, and he would stay here. But there would be no goodbyes. It was never goodbye.
To the dismay of those who may remember me, I started a fic that received a lot of good feedback years ago and I failed to complete it. I've grown a lot in the past years, and I've decided to stick to the occasional one-shot or drabble from time to time. I lack the current focus to do a long-term committed fic. Moving along, if you are a new reader or old reader, thank you so much for reading. Reviews and constructive criticism are very welcome. I want to do more of these, but life has been very busy for me and I cannot promise much. Hope you enjoyed. Peace be with you.